1729 - JACOPO ROBUSTI KNOWN AS TINTORETTO

JACOPO ROBUSTI KNOWN AS TINTORETTO Portrait of Johannes Michael Oil on canvas, 193x113 cm; inscription IOANNES MICHAEL PROT ARMOR IN BELLO IANVEN: MCCCXIII The painting celebrates a member of the illustrious Venetian Michiel family, counted among the founders of the city and particularly influential in the early centuries of the Republic. In the 12th century the family gave as many as three doges in quick succession. Little is known about Giovanni Michiel. He was active as a man of arms and most likely served as a protector during one of the four conflicts between the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Genoa, which took place between 1256 and 1381. According to Federico Zeri, the date 1313 may refer to his death, but it is historically known that in 1315 a Giovanni Michiel was elected captain of the Gulf, with orders to hunt down pirates. In the painting we see the figure of the captain, completely of invention, set in an elegant architectural context. He is depicted as a man no longer young but still mighty, in armor, wearing a red cloak and a yellow skirt. His right hand holds a document and rests on the base of a circular column, while in the background to the left stands a balustrade. Dark, piercing eyes peer out from the right edge of the image. Bibliography: Zeri Photo Library, card 44272 Provenance: Heinz Kisters Foundation Collection (1912-1977). A prominent figure in pre- and postwar Europe, Heinz Kisters owned a radio technology company in Cologne. After 1945 he moved to Meersburg and later to Kreuzlingen, Switzerland. Between 1950 and 1967 he worked as an art dealer for Konrad Adenauer. His collection included works by Sandro Botticelli, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Gerard David, Anton van Dyck, Jean Honoré Fragonard, Esteban Murillo, Peter Paul Rubens, Hans Schäufelein, Jan van Scorel, Bernardo Strozzi, Jacopo Tintoretto, Titian, Diego Velázquez, Merten van Heemskerk and other masters and was dispersed at auction in 1970 by Christie's in London. It is desirable that the painting be the subject of further study.